I just bought this very old 10” x 40 ” Walker Turner (vintage) wood lathe at a moving sale; was told he seldom used it. This puppy is built like a tank; just the bed weighs over 110 lbs – cast iron everything not like the sheet metal junk from HF. I want to replace the bearings and the belt and hoping for some advice on the replacement bearings, please.
The hollow shaft (OD) is 25 mm; the OD of the bearing is 52 MM; its ID is 35 mm and it fits over a ring measuring 5 mm thick. As I can’t remove the ring and the bearing yet without an arbor press, I don’t know whether the ring is reusable. I was told by the bearing seller that the SKF bearing #6205 (25mm x 52mm x 15mm

) would fit over the shaft without the ring. So, would someone please tell me whether I must replace the ring as well as the bearing, OR is it okay to just use the SKF #6205 directly on the shaft without the ring, please? But if I replace the ring, I’d have to find a different bearing with an ID of 35 mm which SKF does not make.

-- LittlePAW - The sweetest sound in my shop, next to Mozart, is what a hand plane makes slicing a ribbon.

20 replies so far

Why are you replacing the bearings. If the lathe has seen very little use the bearings should still be good.It’s hard to tell from your picture. It looks like the bearings are an open bearing and might just need to be repacked with grease.If there is a race on the shaft then it is not OK to replace the bearing with one that will run against the shaft. The race is hardened and design to run against the rollers or balls in the bearing. The shaft is not. There should be numbers stamped on the bearing races outer and inner and a good bearing house should be able to cross those over to the correct bearing.

are they ball bearing or roller bearing? kind of unusual for vintage walker turner to use metric bearings. Typically they were fractional and made for a tough match. You can do the job with a threaded rod and appropriately sized pipes. especially for diss assembly a wood block will do to drive the bearing/spindle out.

Thanx for your input, Bruce. The shaft wasn’t turning as smoothly as I thought it should – had a tight spot – n I noticed a dent on the outter bearing which may be the cause of its not running smoothly. Also I wanted to change the belt to a longer one and to do that, I have to remove the shaft. What a project it turned (no pun intended) out to be! I sure hope it’ll all be worth the trouble once it’s all done. I’ve never restored an old pc of equipment so it’ll be a challenge as well as a lot of fun. I was disappointed that I didn’t find more info on this particular lathe on the Web. It has no model or serial number, just a round plaque that’s been painted over, but can still read it. I paid $150 for it; did I pay too much?d I’ll post more pix of it when I get it re-assembled. Thanx again.

-- LittlePAW - The sweetest sound in my shop, next to Mozart, is what a hand plane makes slicing a ribbon.

RED: it has ball bearings on top of a inner race. I don’t know that they are metric, I measured out exactly 52MM x 35 mm which would be rather complicated in inch. One set of bearings – the one with a slight dent – is jammed in so tight, I could not budge it with a sledge hammer, cushioned with a wooden block, of course. That’s why I think I’d need an arbor press to push it out all the way. Do you have any idea what this lathe is worth, once I get it running proper, that is?

-- LittlePAW - The sweetest sound in my shop, next to Mozart, is what a hand plane makes slicing a ribbon.

can you provide a few more pictures of the assembly? Were there covers over the bearings that have been unbolted? a good side view of the whole thing at once would be helpful. Are the threads on the outboard for a chuck or for a retaining nut?

It’s REO lol the best part of oREO’s is the middle. That’s ok I have a credit card with menards that reads RED’S instead of REO’S tried to change it twice then gave up. I have had that for 12 years.

Thanx everyone for all your help and input and I am having a lot of fun restoring this lathe.After a lot of tapping (cushioned with a block of wood) I finally got both bearings, shaft, 4-speed pulley disassembled from the head stock!!! I was starting to feel I had bit off more than I can chew. After all, I’m just a wood carver, definitely not a machinist, LOL!Let me share what I learned with any LJ who might come into a vintage Walker Turner wood lathe. Even a novice turner can tell that this lathe is well built and as old as it is, it was quality built to last and well worth restoring.The two bearings are different in width, one 15 mm (L-05-Z) and the other 22 mm (I-70372). DougH is right in that there is no other ring. It is one bearing with inner and outer race and the middle is the bearing retainer. Thanx Doug.I talked with a knowledgeable SKF person who told me that those bearings are original and made to OEM spec back some forty or fifty years ago. Walker Turner (WT) specified ID of 25.21mm so that end user must buy replacement bearings from WT and not from SKF. According to the SKF person that was and is a common OEM practice.My I-70372 bearing is in perfect working order after a thorough cleaning and will be repacked with grease. The L-05-Z has a dent on the retainer causing it not to turn smoothly. I am taking it to a machine shop that might be able to replace the retaine provided the bearings are okay. That would be the most cost effective solution since I cannot replace it with a new 6205Z and a 3205A@Z without having the shaft turned down to 25mm. The cost of the new bearings are$27 and $73 respectively, plus the cost of having the shaft turned. I am waiting to hear back from the machine shop.My research: WT started in Plainfield, NJ in 1933. They didn’t put serial numbers nor model # on their machines until 1939, so I’d have to conclude that this puppy is pre 1939. Today, I stripped the gray paint on top of the gold (would you believe someone actually painted it gold?) paint and primed the housing that holds the live center – nasty job!! I’ll be one happy carver when this is all finished and I can start to learn how to turn! Here’s the metal plaque that was painted over, now cleaned.

Does anyone know what this puppy is worth once it is fully restored? I’m just curious, but most interested in turning. I will post pix when finished – promise!

-- LittlePAW - The sweetest sound in my shop, next to Mozart, is what a hand plane makes slicing a ribbon.